Hong Kong uses DNA to probe death of doctor in suspected E coli cluster

Hong Kong authorities are using advanced genome sequencing to see whether separate infections or underlying factors contributed to the death of a young oncologist after a suspected outbreak of a highly toxic E coli strain at a hospital where two other doctors have also presented symptoms.

One of the experts involved in the investigation said on Wednesday that authorities had not ruled out any possibilities about the cases in the oncology department at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung.

An oncologist in his thirties died on Friday last week, less than 24 hours after being admitted to hospital.

The doctor showed signs of severe infection, low blood oxygen levels and high fever, which required him to be intubated and transferred to the intensive care unit.

Authorities have indicated the cluster may be an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E coli, although testing has been inconclusive.

“We are not ruling out any possibilities,” Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, chair of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong’s department of microbiology, said on a radio show.